Melithyr Forest
General Melithyr Forest is a forest in the south east of Nihost. Rangers of Eamonn Lutark Grol'un lived in 'the Melithyr' for some time before meeting the other Rangers, in a small grove. The group visited the forest to seek out Agatha the banshee. They also passed through the forest on their way to The Sunstone Ruins, and spent time with the Melithyr elves following the events of the Ruins. Journey to the Sunstone Ruins During the first part of their journey, the Rangers visited Lutark's log cabin. Though he had not been there in over three weeks, the clearing was well-maintained, and there was fresh meat in his traps. While staying at the cabin, the Rangers discuss Athorell's background - he hails from a logging town to the north-west of the Melithyr named Trellis. Kaylee also shared her background, and Virtuous and Athorell sparred. After a nights rest, Athorell started his daily prayer. The other Rangers noticed it took longer than usual, and saw him shaking and twitching as if in a nightmare. He had been psychically transported into an impossible vertical tunnel. Lutark tried to rouse Athorell with a spoon of porridge, at which point Athorell awakened holding a large sword. This sword morphed from the holy symbol he carried. He told them that this was the sword he had been sent into the Ruins to retrieve before he ran into the demon. Kaylee offered the group two options for traversing the forest - a straight line through difficult terrain and danger, or follow the river and interact with lizardfolk who may challenge them. The Rangers chose to take the straight path. After walking for sometime, they encountered a clearing containing four giant boars. One of which was knocked out, and the others charmed. One of the charmed boars, who tells Kaylee his name is Boartholemew, followed them for a short time. (combat detailed here) As they moved, Kaylee would often pause to readjust their direction through Melithyr Forest. It seemed she was directing them along a spiral path. Mallory and Lutark expressed some familial angst. Mallory told a story of climbing a tree to get some pears, and his cousins catching him and making him jump down. Lutark showed the group the brand on his chest - the brand is old, but there are relatively fresh scars forming an 'X' over it. During a watch, Gae-An and Kaylee climbed a tree (Gae-An acrobatically, while Kaylee became a squirrel) and heard the whispering of goblins causing them to wake the other Rangers. Mallory fairy-fired them and they came out of hiding. These goblins were all riding wolves, and revealed themselves to have been at The Black Arrow Keep. Their names were Cheeks (and Ruffles), Rudgagg (and Scruffy) and Limpy (and Waka-Chaka). They, and nine other wolves, were trying to take the Rangers food. Mallory and Lutark sprung into action, with the former hypnotising the masses and Lutark convincing the 'leader 'wolf' to follow him. After realising they were defeated, the goblins swore to leave the Rangers alone and were released. One morning, Gae-An awoke to find himself in the body of a grey squirrel. Mallory quickly dispelled the magic and he was returned to his usual Goliath self. As they hacked through the brush, Mallory noticed a tree move. He investigated but found nothing. Kaylee communicated with the tree, which demanded that the group turn back from their quest. When they continued, four trees attacked. (combat detailed here) The Rangers stopped to discuss how to continue, as it was clear that the forest didn't appreciate their aggressive ways. Mallory asked Lutark for the Bag of Holding, however as it flew through the air, it stopped dead and then started floating away. Athorell's sword was also tugged on but he managed to stop the theft. While running, the Rangers enquired as to the nature of the invisible flying creatures. The creatures said they were "butterflies". Eventually Athorell hexed the one holding the bag and Gae-An blocked its way forwards. The creatures finally revealed themselves to be fairie dragons - one named Dolen who was yellow and the other named Cant who was blue. Dolen cried out to Cant about the "squirrel man" catching him, revealing them to be responsible for Gae-An's brief time as a squirrel. They spoke of a third dragon named Lalaith (or Lala), who was purple. They admitted to being responsible for the Rangers' journey being so difficult, and agreed not to continue doing so following being bribed with gems and the promise of meeting up again. Later on as the Rangers settled down to rest for the night, the fairie dragons appeared and redirected a charging boar away from their camp. At the end of that watch, three beings emerged from the forest - a human, a dwarf and a lizard person. They tried to deceive the Rangers, but with some light and the help of the fairie dragons, it was revealed that the people are actually wereboars. Gae-An became infected by the curse, but this was lifted qickly by Athorell. The Rangers interrogated the wereboar, learning their names (Finnick the human and Grant the dwarf). The wereboar had never been inside the ruins. Finnick told them that he and his two friends travel Melithyr Forest making people into wereboar. Mallory attempted to kill him, but Athorell blocked it and did it himself. Athorell tried to heal the lizardfolk lady of her curse but found it impossible with the tools currently at his disposal. He released her and sent her to Extreme Yellow for later treatment. The final wereboar, Grant, was killed quickly after becoming conscious. Following this fight, Virtuous saw Mallory sneak an alcoholic drink, a fact she assures Mallory she won't tell Athorell.. unless it slips out accidentally. (combat detailed here)